So possums!
As many of you know… we have philanthropy built into our business model. We support a range of charities monthly + annually, from helping to build a school through Pencils of Promise, to being in the top 1% of Kiva lenders in the world, to 4 sponsor daughters, to being UNICEF global parents, to donating close to 200 000 workbooks to charities, to supporting Doctors Without Borders, Red Cross, World Wildlife Fund + much more.
We as a team decided we wanted to do something extra this month to support the Syrian refugee crisis. Because of all of you, we were able to donate an additional $1000. It’s nowhere near enough to fix the problem, but every bit counts. We have the Starfish Story as inspiration to keep growing, giving + making each one matter. (Have attached the Starfish Story as an image if you don’t know it already!)
Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions.
Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching. As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea. The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”
The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”
The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.”
The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!”
adapted from The Star Thrower, by Loren Eiseley (1907 – 1977)
We’ll keep on finding ways we can do more, give way, help more. One more starfish. One more starfish.
Thank you for inspiring us, for being a part of this vision + this mission and for investing in you. When we step up to be conscious creators, we really CAN change this world.
Big Love,
Leonie, Grant, Joyce, Erin, Amber + the rest of Team Shining.
xoxo
YOU MAY ALSO LOVE…
[leonie_show_posts ids=”15478,21824,22062,14754″]
